On March 20-21, the two-day conference, entitled “The Louisiana Civil Code of 1825: Content, Influence and Languages–Past and Future” was amiably hosted by Olivier Moréteau, Professor of Law, and first holder of the Russell B. Long Eminent Scholars Academic Chair, at the Louisiana State University, School of Law, on the University’s beautiful campus in Baton Rouge. It was one of the many events marking the bicentenary of one of the most influential Civil Codes of the nineteenth century.
The first day of the conference was the Journée internationale de la francophonie. One of the day’s parallel sessions was devoted in French to “Codification et francophonie”. From an Edinburgh perspective, it is worth noting that, as well as this blogger, who spoke on “Reforming Guardianship of Children in the Civil Code of 1825”, Dr Asya Ostroukh of the University of the West Indies, Barbados, who gained her PhD at Edinburgh, spoke on “Louisiana Property Law from the Digest to the Code: A Substantive Reform?” as well as “The Influence of the Louisiana Civil Code in Saint Lucia: From one Mixed Jurisdiction to Another” at another session, while John Lovett, Honorary Professor at the University of Edinburgh, and Newman Trowbridge Distinguished Professor at he the Paul M. Hébert Law Center at Louisiana State University, presented a paper on “The Civil Code of 1825 and the Rise of Absolute Dominion in Louisiana Property Law”.
The richness and number of the the presentations precludes a discussion of them individually or collectively, but the influence of the Louisiana Civil Code in North America, in Latin America and worldwide was well canvassed, as well as issues of language, translation, and the future of codification. A notable event was delivery of the 44th John H. Tucker, jr., Lecture in Civil Law as part of the Conference, by Agustin Parise of the University of Maastricht on the topic of “A Bicentennial Approach to an Exegetical School of Private Law in Louisiana”. The Conference concluded with a distinguished Discussion Panel, followed by Cocktails and a Banquet.
The next day there was a visit to the Nottaway Plantation (where the spectacular house has tragically subsequently burned down), the charming historic St. Paul’s Church at White Castle on the River Road, finishing at St John the Evangelist at Plaquemine, a remarkable Roman-style Basilica, on Bayou Plaquemine. This blogger was interested to note that there was a stained glass window with, as well as two religious scenes, the arms and motto of the House of Orange, and another, similarly, with the arms of the City of Nijmegen. Why these should be in this Catholic Church in Louisiana is unclear and no explanation could be found.
Along with Professor Moréteau, the conference was organised by:
Prof. Dr. Nikolaos Davrados
Katie Bell Meek, Coordinator
Aurore Guizone, Research Associate
